This blog has been asleep for a few months, while the hustle and bustle of summer did its thing. But it’s about to see a lot more action for a couple of weeks, while my blog Urban Compass transitions from one home (the city paper) to a new home (the local alternative weekly). For those of you stopping by from the former home, welcome to this temporary station, and for those of you old-time readers, keeping up with family and whatnot, please forgive the trampling of feet and possibly drastic change in tone.
Facing a blog-home limbo has challenged me to consider again this possibility of launching an independent publication. The Knight Foundation announced a tantalizing grant recently, and the Springfield Cultural Council has set a deadline for its small annual grants as well. Buzzing about this subject with a few residents has built a small amount of interest in the idea—for instance, an online home for all the city’s civic associations, perhaps fostering a blogger in each neighborhood. A place to post photos from all around the city. A central location for various announcements, news, commentary, and analysis, of varying quality, but striving for… meaningful. Very tempting.
For now, I’m not sure I’m ready to take action on the idea, given that I’m not well-enough informed about potential cost. Paul Bass of the New Haven Independent once told me that he resolved not to launch his news site until he was assured it would be fully funded. He has years of in-the-trenches experience as an investigative journalist. Lacking that, and hearing his side of the story, I know that diving in feet first can end up hampering a project down the road. So for the time being, I’ll keep plugging along as is, and try to do my homework. What I’ve learned blogging thus far about Springfield—since May 2005—is that there is an audience of engaged readers who very much want more information about their city, and more ways to discuss it with each other. If Springfield does anything right in the next several months and years, this trend is only going to increase. How will media respond?